


Study of Oneirology

by redwing1



Category: Community (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-05-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,880
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24447067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redwing1/pseuds/redwing1
Summary: The study group agrees to be subjects for a series of experiments involving each others dreams.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not the best writer so please ignore any grammatical/spelling mistakes

Chapter 1 – 8:00am in Study Room

“What are we doing here?” asked Jeff Winger as he sat at the main table in Study Room F of Greendale Community College. He was surrounded by his former study group turned friend group with the Dean sitting in the empty chair to the right of him. Troy Barnes, Britta Perry and Annie Edison were all on their phones while Abed Nadir, Shirley Bennett and Pierce Hawthorne sat looking at the table or the clock in front of them. It was 8:00am on a Saturday which was why Jeff asked the question that everyone was thinking.

“It’s a Saturday Dean, I should be with the Hunnies on the golf course!” Pierce exclaimed and gestured to the group to back him up which no one did. 

“Pierce you don’t have any hunnies or a golf course” Britta replied without looking up from her phone. 

The Dean paused for a moment and then spoke, “Guys I got to be honest with you, I was asked to arrange a meeting with students that I trust at exactly this time by the board and when I asked for more details, they refused to answer me”

“So, we have no idea why we’re here right now?” Annie said as she put her cellphone down. “Does this at least have anything to do with Greendale, Dean?” 

“I got a confirmation for the meeting from an email with the Air Force Academy watermark on it so I would guess that they somehow have something to do with this.” 

After hearing this Troy dropped his phone on the table and looked wide eyed at Abed. 

“Dude, is this going to be Top Gun because I would be totally down for that”

“Troy you don’t know how to fly a plane” Britta replied before Abed could get a word in.

Troy looked saddened, “Dang, you’re right about that”.

“I have no idea what this meeting is about, but I’m getting the feeling it is going to be more unusual than our regular wacky adventures” Abed said to Troy who picked his head back up in excitement. 

“Whatever this is I’m going to have to leave here by 11 for my boys soccer game” Shirley said frustrated as she looked again at the clock. 

At that very moment an older man in a military suit walked in holding a silver briefcase. The man appeared to be in his mid 60’s and had a surprisingly warm look to his face. The dean jumped up from his chair and walked over to introduce himself. 

“Hi, my name is Craig Pelton and I’m the Dean of Greendale. I’m guessing you are the man we are meeting this morning?” 

The military man smiled and shook the Deans hand. 

“Yes, my name is Colonel Lawrence, but you can call me Larry for short” he said with a smile. 

The dean nodded his head and Larry walked around him and had a seat in the Deans empty chair at the table. “Hello guys, I’m sure you have a ton of questions but if we can just quickly go through names that would help me out a ton”

Jeff shook Larry’s hand and then began speaking, “Hi Larry, my name is Jeff Winger” Jeff began to gesture to the group starting on his right. “Larry this is Britta Perry, Abed Nadir, Troy Barnes, Pierce Hawthorne, Shirley Bennett, and Annie Edison”.

The group all gave a head nod or a hello back to Larry who smiled at them all. 

“Well thank you all for taking the time to meet with me this morning. I understand that this isn’t exactly the most convenient time or day, but we needed this school to be empty in order for us to proceed with the plan” 

“And what exactly is the plan? Because I’ve been told absolutely nothing” the Dean said as he dragged over a chair from a different table.

Larry smiled and looked at the group sitting around the table. “About two months ago the Air Force Academy made a monumental discovery in the science of oneirology-“

“Is that the study of number one?” Troy asked.

“No Troy, Oneirology is the study of dreams” Britta said as the rest of the group looked at her in shock. “What? I can’t know things too?”

“Ms. Perry is correct,” Larry continued, “As you all know the only way you get better at something is if with practice and that goes the same with flying a jet in the Airforce. Every year we suffer millions of dollars in losses in training accidents or failing planes. About two years ago one of our head scientists started pursuing this idea that we could practice flying in our dreams and then not need to have to waste time and money in the air. So, he began designing a sedative that allowed parts of the brain to stay awake and build a world that we could practice in. The idea is the students would practice maneuvers mostly in their dreams and then prove they could do it once or twice in reality before moving on to the next maneuver. This would cut down on training time by half and allow our cadets to graduate with everything they need to know in only two years! About a year ago the scientist finalized his first version of the sedative and after a few test runs realized that people could share dreams if they were hooked up the same sedative pump. This allowed for pilots to fly two-man jets and work together, and all seemed to be working so well at first. However, after some time he realized that whenever two people dreamed together one person would occasionally be killed off in some way. Sometimes it was a failing jet, but other times unknown figures that we call the ‘dream police’ or ‘officer’ would hunt them down in any way possible. At first, we thought it was a random occurrence, but it proved to be a real and concerning pattern. After breaking down the structure of the sedative pump we discovered that one of the participants would always get the sedative before the other participant and the second participant would be the one that gets killed. We decided to take a step back from the cadets and try professors instead to see how these dreams would go and if they would end violently. After our first test, we came to the understanding that whoever got the sedative first would become the one true dreamer. They would create the world and fill it with projections of their own subconscious. The second participant would join their dream and essentially infiltrate the main dreamers subconscious. The main dreamers brain sees the second participant as a virus which is why it tries so hard to expel it from the dream using these freak accidents or “dream police”. Over time the professors got more comfortable with the process and we could see that their brain was becoming more and more comfortable with sharing dreams with another person. About a month ago the same scientist came up with a new and improved version of the sedative that allows more than two people to share and dream and creates such a sharp image of the world that it truly feels like reality. We needed new people to test the sedative and that is where you all come in.”

Larry finally paused to take a sip from a water bottle he had and scanned the group. Everyone there had a face that landed somewhere on a scale between mildly surprised and shocked. 

Larry continued, “Greendale is not too far from the Academy and is so small and obscure that no one would notice if a high-ranking military official happened to pop down on a rainy Saturday morning. We also wanted more diversity from the participants which was also why we found a community college so appealing. So essentially what I’m asking from you all today is your participation in a series of tests involving our sedative to see how it impacts civilians. You all will have to sign NDA’s and will receive a check for $1000 in two days if you agree to stay here for the next three hours.”

Everyone around the table was speechless for some time before Jeff spoke up. 

“So, you want us to participate in some secret military dream experiment for three hours and then we get $1000 bucks?”

“Essentially, yeah that about sums it up” Larry replied.

Troy after finally closing mouth raised his hand to ask a question and Larry nodded in his general direction.

“So, on a scale of 1-10 how similar is this to the movie Inception?”

Larry let out a booming laugh and then responded to Troy. “Son, I’ll admit this is probably somewhere around a 5 or a 6. In the movie they try to plant ideas which we haven’t even looked into yet but the sharing dreams concept isn’t that far off”

Abed smiled and turned to Troy, “I told you Nolan is a genius”.

Troy could only nod in return. 

Britta smiled at the two of them and then snapped out of some trance and turned to Larry.

“Wait could we die in these dreams?”

Larry paused for a moment and thought of a considerate response.

“I’m going to be blunt with you all, yes you can die and you most likely will die, at least on the first test. However, when you die I promise all that happens is that you’ll wake up here and wait for that specific test to wrap up” 

The group looked at each other stunned. 

“What does it feel like to die in a dream?” Annie asked Larry.

“Well it feels like you die. Most deaths in dreams come from the “dream police” and they usually shoot you.”

Shirley decided to speak up, “Have you died before?”

Larry nodded slowly. “I’ve died more times than I can count. And while they seem scary in the moment, they won’t scar you for life after you wake up. The sedative makes sure to seriously sedate the brain after death which leads to waking up naturally as if you were just dreaming on your own. Your memory of the dream will by fuzzy at best and there’s a solid chance you remember nothing from it.”

The group absorbed the news and remained silent. 

“How do the pilots know how to do their maneuvers if they can’t remember anything when they wake up?” the Dean asked. 

“You won’t remember specifics from the dreams, but you will remember feelings. For example, the pilots wouldn’t remember the name of the jet they were flying or where they were flying it, but they would remember the feeling they had while completing the task which they can replicate in real life”. Larry paused again and took another sip from his water. 

“Listen if you don’t want to participate, I completely understand. This is scary and different, but I promise we wouldn’t be testing it on civilians if we weren’t 100% sure there were no long-term lasting effects. If you guys want out, please sign an NDA and you can leave now”

There was a long silence in the group before Abed spoke up first.

“I’m in.”

Troy quickly followed Abed’s lead after their handshake. 

“I’m also in.”

Britta and Annie looked at each other and nodded slowly both speaking up at the same time.

“We’re in as well.”

After seeing more than half of the group Pierce shook his head slowly, “Ah what the hell, sure I’ll do this weird science mumbo jumbo” 

The group then turned to Jeff who sighed and reluctantly said, “Fine”. 

After seeing Jeff agree everyone shifted their gaze to Shirley who had been quiet for most of the morning. 

“I just don’t know everyone. I don’t think I have it in me to be killed in some nightmare”

Larry looked to Shirley and smiled, “Shirley, I could use some help running the tests with the Dean if you would like to do that instead. That’ll also give your friends in the test some peace of mind knowing that you’re making sure that everything is going smoothly while they’re asleep.”

Shirley eyes lit up, “Oh that sounds like a wonderful idea!”

Larry nodded and then picked up his briefcase and set it on the table.

“Well then everyone let’s get this show on the road”.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – 8:15am in Study Room

Larry opened the silver briefcase and first took out a slim laptop and then moved the briefcase to the middle of the table so everyone could see what was inside. The sedative pump was a white cylinder that was fastened to the bottom of the briefcase and had a red button in the middle. Attached to the cylinder were 6 chords, 5 of them white and one was red which the group assumed was the “true dreamers’ cord”. Larry also took out six bracelets and passed them to the group. 

“Make sure the bracelets are tight, it’s how I can monitor your pulse and make sure you all are actually asleep”

The group minus Shirley each fastened their bracelet on and looked to Larry for further instruction. 

“Now here is where things get interesting. One of you is going to have to be the first true dreamer. Now remember that we will run 6 tests with the true dreamer rotating so all of you will have the role, but I know being the first can be kind of intimidating. The other five members will be in your dream and you might subconsciously reveal ideas or truths that you have without even knowing it. I would like to again remind you guys that you will probably not remember anything for these dreams so whatever secrets are learned will most likely be forgotten once everyone awakes. On a positive note, as the true dreamer you won’t be hunted by the dream police which is usually the scariest part of these tests.”

“So, does that mean we won’t die in the dream if we are the true dreamer?” Annie asked.

“Well you can still die, but it wouldn’t be from the police. There’s nothing stopping the true dreamer from jumping off a roof I guess, which will still kill you.” Larry replied. 

“What happens to the rest of us if the true dreamer were to die and wake up?” Abed asked. 

“Now that is a good question Abed. If the true dreamer were to die, the rest of you remain in the dream. Even though he is not there the sedative has already gotten enough information to build a dream and fill it with the true dreamers subconscious” Larry gestured to Pierce, “If Pierce was the true dreamer and got hit by a car as soon as the dream started, you all would still be in his dream for the entirety of the test and would most likely still be hunted down by the dream police.”

“Hey! I’m not going to get hit by any cars” Pierce responded.

Troy shook his head, “Man these dream police really won’t quit will they”.

Larry nodded, “Yeah, but I also want to say that if you were to encounter one, I’m not trying to say that you are dead meat. Since you’re all first-time dreamers, this will be the first time your brain sends something to fight off the other dreamers. The police you encounter won’t be highly trained assassins and I have seen regular professors fight them off on multiple occasions.” 

The group took in this information and then turned to look again at the briefcase. 

“I also think it’s important to tell you guys that when you’re in the dream you won’t initially know that you’re asleep. This sedative is so powerful that you all will be convinced that whatever character you are in the dream is who you always were and will always be. You might know other members in this group in the dream at the start of it, but you will not know them as a friend from a community college in Colorado. Since you all are attached to the same pump, you’re lives will be somehow connected, but the way it is connected will only be up to the true dreamer. He or she will determine the roles you have, location you’re in, the year you’re in, hell even the planet you’re on.”

Abed turned to Larry, “Wait could we be in an entirely different world in these dreams?”

“It’s certainly possible. I’ve been in dreams that have taken place on Mars in the year 3000 so I guess anything is fair game depending on the dreamer.”

Troy turned to Abed with an excited look, “Man we could actually do Inspector Spacetime for real! Think of the adventures we could go on!”

Abed was speechless. 

Larry smiled again, “So who is going to be my true dreamer guinea pig? Hopefully I was able to convince you guys it’s really not as bad as it might seem”.

The group looked around at each other and then all slowly turned to stare directly at Jeff. The dean even got up from his chair and walked over to him. 

“Oh, come on guys this is ridiculous” Jeff retorted with a shake of his head. 

The dean placed his hand on Jeff’s shoulder and looked down at him, “Think Jeffrey, you’ll be the only one that won’t have to worry about these Dream police fellas”. 

Jeff looked at the Dean, and then the group and then at Larry. 

“Fine, whatever, I’ll do it first if no one wants it. How long will this this test go on for anyways?”

“Each test will only take 30 minutes here, but in the dream, it will seem a little longer.”

“How much longer?” Jeff asked

“With the sedative you’re using it’ll seem like you’re in the dream for two days.”

The group again looked stunned. 

“I guarantee that some of you will not last the two days though and will probably be awake within fifteen minutes of first being sedated.” Larry quickly said.

This didn’t seem to calm any of the members, so Larry decided to continue talking. 

“Look the key to success for you guys is to realize you’re dreaming. Once you figure that out, you can be on the lookout for the police and probably learn some things about each other that just simply aren’t possible while awake”

Troy looked at Larry, “How do we figure out were dreaming?”

“Well the first member will have to figure it out on their own. This is usually done by someone asking them about their past or saying something that triggers a memory from when they were awake. After the first member realizes it, try asking other members how they got here and where they went to school. Talk about Greendale with them and maybe share a special memory that you had together. It important to not just yell ‘we’re dreaming’ at them because we have seen that the mind has a tendency to reject that idea since the dream feels so lifelike”. 

This seemed to ease the members nerves, and Annie turned to Larry. 

“How will we find the other members once we realize it’s a dream?” 

“We have noticed that regardless of the role that you guys will be in, you will all have the same names. Also, these dream worlds really are not as big they might feel when in them and you might be surprised how close by the other dreamers will be”

Jeff took one more glance around the room and then turned back to Larry. “Ok I think we’re ready”.

Larry nodded warmly and then turned his focus again to the briefcase and pushed a side button that unlocked the cords. “If you guys are ready to begin, I would ask that you each take a white chord and have Mr. Winger take the red one.”

Each group member reached for the box and then began pulling one of the chords toward them while leaving some slack. Larry then pushed the button again which locked the cords at whatever their current length was and then looked back at the group. “You’ll notice that at the end of every chord is a tiny needle that you will need to stick into a specific part of your wrist,” Larry gestured to a vain that was right below the hand and quickly noted the scared looks from Troy and Annie, “These needles are brand new and are designed to cause almost no pain, I promise you that I have never found a better a needle in my life which is why we are using it today.” Larry then looked up to Shirly and the Dean, “If you two could help these guys with finding the vain and inserting the needle that would be a huge help”. Shirley and the Dean nodded and walked around helping members until everyone was situated correctly. 

The room was quiet as everyone sat starring at the briefcase again.

“Hey Jeff, I think these needles might actually be the same size as your wang” Pierce said and stared uncontrollably laughing to himself. He noticed no one initially sharing his reaction, “Hey that was actually funny, and I think all of you know it.” Troy and Britta tried to hide a snicker. 

Jeff actually smiled and then turned once more to Larry, “Well with that I guess we’re all set.”

Larry pulled the briefcase closer and placed his hand near the button at the center of the pump. “Even though you won’t know it initially, remember that what you are about to enter is only a dream and we will be watching you all closely from right here at this table.” 

Everyone nodded and Shirley looked reassuringly to the group one last time and said, “I will be right here guys and I’ll see when you when you wake up from whatever world Jeff’s mind thinks up”

Most of the group smiled at Shirley as Larry placed his finger over the red button and pressed down slowly. “Sweet dreams” he said and for everyone attached to the machine, the study room quickly faded to black.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 – 8:30am in Study Room 

Jeff’s Dream: New York City 2012, 9:00am, Day 1

Troy Barnes knew he was late. He glanced down at his watch and made a slight shriek sound as he jumped of the subway and bounded up the stairs to reach street level. He turned to his right and saw the modern looking brown building with big windows that he used to see as a paradise. After working in it for almost 6 months his opinion has changed drastically, and he wanted nothing more than to still be at home and in bed. N.E.W. Law Firm was one of the most well-known law firms in all of the city and Troy getting a job as an associate was one of the biggest surprises of his life. He still remembers getting the phone call and crying for an hour with just utter joy. Recently those tears have turned to pain and sadness as he realized exactly how much work he had and how little time he had to do the things he truly enjoyed like watching movies or repairing broken refrigerators and A/C units in his building. 

Troy entered the building and was greeted as usual by the lobby attendant Pierce Hawthorne. Pierce had been working in this building for over 40 years and was one of the most well-known men in the entire company. Pierce looked up at Troy as he was finishing up the morning Crossword puzzle, “Oh man Troy, did you oversleep again?”

“I was here until 3am last night working on paperwork man! I feel like I just can’t catch my breath with this stuff!”

Pierce looked warmly at Troy as he ran over to the elevator, “I know it seems tough now, but trust me it does get easier over time”

Troy only nodded as he jumped in the elevator and jammed the button for the 7th floor. Inside the elevator a small monitor played a brief video that Troy could practically recite from memory to anyone at this point. “Hello and welcome to Nadir, Edison and Winger Law Firm. My name is Jeff Winger and I am the founder of this great New York based company. Thank you for choosing N.E.W. Law and we promise to get you everything you deserve and more in this trying time. That’s the Winger Guarantee!” Troy turned to look at the monitor with his boss giving a smile and thumbs up to the camera and shook his head. The elevator finally stopped, and Troy sped walked past the front desk to his cubicle that sat in the far corner of a fairly opened floor minus the three large offices where the managing partners worked. As soon as Troy sat down, he felt a tap on the shoulder and turned to see the youngest managing partner, Annie Edison looking down at him. 

“Hey Troy, were you able to finish that work on the Ben Chang file? I’ve got a meeting in like 20 minutes and I’m definitely going to need that.”

“Um, yeah give me a second,” Troy opened the second draw on his desk that revealed a large accordion file that was filled with paper work, “Let’s see, ah here it is” Troy pulled out a thick pile of papers and handed it over to Annie. 

“Thanks, and maybe take some time to clean out that drawer? I bet you could maybe increase your efficiency with throwing away some of those older files.” Annie then turned and walked back to her office leaving Troy looking at his drawer and pondering many of his life choices. 

Annie carried the files back to her office and placed them down on the large maple desk that sat on the far side of the room. She had a large window that looked out at Midtown Manhattan where she could sometimes see Central Park depending on the weather and time of day. She opened the folder Troy had given her and sighed to herself looking at the amount of work she made Troy do last night instead of going home. She wished that she could’ve done it instead, but she had her own files to review and simply just didn’t have the time to finish all of her own responsibilities. Jeff had told her multiple times that it was part of the job and the associates knew what they were getting themselves into, but she still felt saddened to see the tired look in Troy’s eyes. She looked around at the office and felt like she should’ve been happier than she was. Her dream as a kid was always to become a lawyer and being made the youngest managing partner in New York should make her proud, but it really just made her feel empty on the inside. She had lost so much getting to this position. She had few friends and rarely had time to see family. She spent more time with Jeff and Abed than anyone else over the past six months and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon. At first, she was nervous to be working with Jeff Winger, known as one of the successful lawyers on the East Coast. Over time though, she saw more and more of his other side that he didn’t show in court, a friendly and charming individual who just knew how to win people over. 

A knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts and she smiled as she saw Jeff standing in the doorway.

“Hey, do you have a date for this Gala thing tonight across the street? Michelle is out of town for the week and I feel weird going alone.”

Annie shook her head, “I’m sorry Jeff, Abed actually already asked if I wanted to go with him as a friend and I said yes” 

Jeff nodded, “Oh ok that’s totally fine. I can go solo then and just hang out with you guys”

Annie smiled, “Yeah we would love that! It’s been forever since we hung out anywhere but this place”

“Great, I’ll see you guys there tonight then” Jeff turned and walked away as Annie turned back to the case file and began looking it over. 

Jeff walked back to his office and found Abed sitting by his desk with a piece of paper in his hand and appeared to be deep in thought. 

“Abed what are you doing in here?”

Abed looked up at Jeff, down at the piece of paper he was holding and then up at Jeff again, “Jeff this is my two weeks’ notice that I am resigning.”

“What? Abed you might be the best lawyer I have ever seen! Look at this place,” Jeff gestured at his office, “Look at us! Why would you resign?”

Abed looked out the window, “Because I’m not happy Jeff. I look back and I’m sometimes not even sure how I got here. This isn’t who I am, so I’m going to leave and find that out somewhere else”

Jeff couldn’t contain his surprise, “Abed you’re making over a million dollars a year! We get to work together with Annie, and we are at the top of the world! Is there anything I can do to change your mind?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time Jeff. I’ll still probably be in the City and want to remain your friend, but this lawyer stuff is just not what I want to do anymore.”

Jeff took in the news and sat at his desk. He pulled out his bottom drawer and picked up two glasses and a bottle of expensive scotch. He poured the scotch into both glasses and then handed one to Abed. “Well Abed it was an absolute honor having you as a managing partner here and I hope you find what you’re looking for. Do you have any initial ideas of what you want to do?”

Abed took a small sip from the scotch, “I’m thinking about working in TV. Maybe try to make it as a writer or something. I just feel like this whole situation was sometimes fitting a square peg in a round hole. I just don’t think I’ve ever fit here and because of that I’ve never really been that happy.”

Jeff took a larger sip and then looked back at Abed, “Well you were a hell of a lawyer, even if it was never you’re calling.” Jeff paused for a moment, “Are you still going to the Gala tonight?”

Abed smiled at him, “Oh yeah, I’m going with Annie are you going to be there?”

Jeff smiled back “Oh you bet buddy” They clanked their glasses together and finished the scotch in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – 8:34am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream: 12pm Day 1

It was around noon when Troy felt a crunched-up paper ball hit him in the back of the head. He had been working on paperwork for almost three hours and now and had completely lost track of time. He turned around and picked up the ball and unwrapped to see the word “Lunch??” scribbled on it. He then looked up and saw Britta Perry, who was another associate, smiling and gesturing him to follow. He smiled back and nodded and they both got up and began walking to the elevator. He had met Britta on his first day on the job and had been friends from the very start. Troy realized early on that Britta wasn’t super well-liked by some of the other associates and partners, but she had always been kind to him, and he tried to do the same to her. He had thought about asking her on a date a few times now but also didn’t want to ruin one of the true friendships he had at the firm by over complicating it. Britta wasn’t particularly good at being an associate, but it always seemed like Jeff Winger had some sort of a soft spot for her since she was one of the few people who wouldn’t back down from a verbal sparring match with him. Troy couldn’t tell if they had been in a relationship prior to him arriving, but he know that Jeff had been seeing a woman named Michelle Slater for almost three months now and Britta seemed happy for both of them. 

They walked in silence to not raise attention to themselves and finally made it to the elevator in one piece. Britta turned to Troy, “How late were you here last night? I left a little after 1 and couldn’t even get your attention to say goodnight.”

Troy shook his head and looked at her, “I left at like 3 and was probably in bed by 3:45 so I’m running on like 4 hours of sleep right now.”

Britta looked at him with wide eyes, “3am! Are you serious? I would have just left man, that’s just too late to be stuck in this hell hole”

Troy laughed, “You’re right Britta, I’m not ever sure why I’m doing this to myself.” The elevator stopped on level two and Troy and Britta looked around at the crowded cafeteria. Troy looked at Britta, “How about you find us a table and I’ll get the food”

Britta smiled, “How will you know what I want?”

“I’ve seen what you eat enough times to have an idea” Troy turned and walked to one of the server stations as Britta looked and found their favorite table that sat by one of the large windows unoccupied and made her way to it. Britta sat down and looked out the window at all the people living their lives on the street below. She still wasn’t sure how she decided on becoming a lawyer and thought about quitting almost daily. She thought about maybe going back to school and studying something like psychology and smiled at the idea of being able to help people out with the mental or emotional problems. If she hadn’t met Troy, she probably would have been gone a long time ago, but something about their relationship made it hard for her to just say goodbye. Troy was one of the few genuine good people she knew, and she could tell that he really wanted her to be happy which made him pretty unique in her life. She had thought about asking him out for drinks a few times but worried that it might come across as weird given their age difference. She couldn’t tell if Troy liked like her like an older sister or something more which drover her crazy when she thought about it. After she and Jeff stopped doing whatever it was that they did, she hadn’t really put herself back out there and decided to take things a little slower with guys. She was impressed with herself that she had lasted this long with him without screwing it up with Troy but decided today was the day she would take a chance with him. She caught eyes with him and made a wave gesture as he maneuvered his way through the crowd with two trays and sat down in the chair opposite to her. 

Britta looked down at her tray and saw a Cobb salad and a side of celery sticks and smiled. Troy was eating a hamburger and glanced out the window. “Do you ever think about leaving all of this and just starting fresh somewhere else?” 

Britta paused from eating, “Yeah I actually do Troy. I’m not sure what it is about what I’m doing but it just doesn’t feel right. Maybe it has never felt right, I don’t know”

Troy nodded, “Yeah it’s like I really don’t like any of this so why did I chose this path?” 

“I think sometimes time just gets away from us. I’ve been thinking about going back to school actually, maybe studying psychology”

Troy smiled, “Britta if that’s what would make you happy then you should totally do it! I think my days are numbered here as well, I’m realizing it’s more important to do something that you actually like to do rather than something that just gets you the most money” Troy looked down at his expensive blue suit and Britta’s high end attire. 

Britta turned again and looked out the window at the street and something odd caught her eye. Across the road on the sidewalk were a man and women in black suits with dark sunglasses. They just stood there, and Britta swore it felt like they were looking right at her. It gave her an uneasy feeling and was about to point them out to Troy when he spoke first. 

“Britta, would you want to get dinner with me tonight? If I’m misreading this relationship and jumping the gun just let me know and I’ll shut up right now”

Britta was so caught off guard she completely forgot about the strangers and turned back to face Troy. “Troy, I would very much like to get dinner with you tonight! How about we try that French place about a block away from here? I’ve heard their cheese selection is to die for”

Troy’s face lit up, “Oh I love cheese! And yeah would like 7pm work for you?”

“That sounds great” Britta smiled at Troy and was embarrassed to almost feel a giddy joy about being asked out. 

Troy glanced down at his watch as he finished up his burger, “We should really be getting back I think Jeff is starting to notice how long these lunches are getting”

“Don’t worry about him he’s the king of the long lunch break. I think he and Abed were gone for like two hours last week at some fancy Italian restaurant”

Troy got up and grabbed his tray and Britta’s now empty tray, “I really haven’t talked much with Abed since I’ve gotten here, what’s he like?”

“He’s a little strange but Jeff swears that he’s one of the best lawyers he’s ever seen. When I’ve talked to him, he constantly made movie and pop culture references which I thought was a little odd” Britta paused for a second and looked at Troy, “I don’t know why but I feel like you two would get along great”

Troy nodded as they arrived at the elevator and got in, “Well I guess I’ll have to talk to him someday”

“That sounds like a good plan” When the elevator got off on their floor, they both returned to their seats and went on with their work. Britta had already forgotten about the two people she spotted from the window and if she had remembered to check it again when they were leaving the table, she would’ve seen that they were gone.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – 8:37am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream: 6:30pm Day 1

“Heading out for the night Abed?” Abed Nadir paused after he got off of the elevator and looked over to Pierce Hawthorne who sat at his desk holding a note he had been reading. 

“Yeah Pierce I’m about to head over to that Gala across the street, I’m just waiting on Annie to just finish up some paperwork.” Abed looked at the old man and felt like he recognized him from somewhere else but just couldn’t put a finger on it. Had he seen him when he was growing up? No that can’t be it. He felt like he could see Pierce in some old house drinking expensive scotch during some holiday that the two happened to be together. Why would I have been with Pierce and why do I feel like there were other people with us? Abed tried to think deeper and felt like he saw faces that he knew from this company, faces he had seen at-

“Abed you alright? You just kind of froze up on me there”

Abed snapped out of his thought and looked to Pierce, “Sorry, I guess I was having some sort of Deja-Vu. Did you ask something?”

Pierce chuckled, “It wasn’t a question, but I was saying how I’ve always liked Ms. Edison and I think you two would make a great couple”

Abed shook his head, “Couple? No, we’re just going as friends.” 

“Okay, well you guys have fun tonight” Pierce said winking at Abed.

Abed smiled wearily and looked again at his watch. Annie said she would only be a few minutes, where was she? He saw the elevator lights flash indicating that it was moving downward and exhaled. He then turned back to Pierce, “How late are you staying here tonight Pierce? Do you have any plans afterward?”

Pierce shook his head, “Oh you know same old stuff with me unfortunately. I’ll probably catch the 8pm train back home”.

Abed nodded and saw both Jeff and Annie exit the elevator discussing some case they had been working on. Jeff nodded at Abed and gave a wave to Pierce, “Pierce it looks like you’re the last one here so have a nice night and get home safe”

Pierce smiled and watched the three walks to the door, “Have a nice time on this special night!” 

Jeff smiled and turned back as Abed and Annie looked on at the busy street looking to cross, “Oh this Gala thing isn’t that special unfortunately” and turned to join the other two who began to cross the street. 

Pierce sighed and looked back down to the note he was reading. 

Happy 70th Birthday Pierce! I hope you have fantastic day with your friends in the big city!   
Love, Willy.

Pierce kept re-reading the note again and again. Who was this Willy and how did he know it was his birthday when none of his friends from work did? He racked his brain for something to connect the dots but just couldn’t see the bigger picture. He also didn’t see the elevator light flash back on behind him.   
¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬¬____________________________________________________

Troy got to the restaurant on the early side to scope out the joint making sure he would be able to get a table with Britta. He was relieved to see it fairly quiet and walked up to the hostess and asked for a table for two. The table he got was on the far side of the dining room for some reason and was fairly close to the kitchen door. Troy asked if there was an open table closer to any of the windows, but the hostess said they were expecting guests later and gestured again to the original table. To be fair, the dining room did begin to fill up quickly over the next ten minutes as Troy waited for Britta to show. He wondered if this was the wrong move and maybe he was making a mistake with Britta. When looking at it from afar, his relationship with Britta made little sense. They were practically complete opposites with an eight-year age difference. On the other hand, Troy couldn’t help but feel more real when he was with her. She saw the world in such a unique way and having these interesting and different conversations with her about world issues was really enlightening. It made sense that she wanted to go back to school and Troy couldn’t help but wonder how she would feel about him joining her. He thought about how fun it would be to go to school with her, when he suddenly started feeling the strangest Deja-Vu. He felt like his vision of them going to school was almost too real. Like he had seen it from somewhere but just couldn’t place his finger on it. He decided to take a deep breath and focus hard on that idea. Where did he see it? Was it from some show on TV? Was it in a movie he had seen? He couldn’t place the scene he was thinking of, but it involved two people dancing on a stage. One in a weird costume initially and then wearing a black leotard like the second dancer. From the viewers perspective, it looked like another dance, but the dancers knew it was something more. They knew there were true feelings shared that day that hadn’t existed prior. He could see blonde hair from the dancer and began to see the facial features come together revealing-

“Hey Troy, I am so sorry I’m late” Troy jumped as he looked up at Britta and completely lost his train of thought. “Sorry did I scare you?” She said giggling and sat down in the empty chair opposite to him. 

Troy shook his head and refocused his attention on Britta, who was wearing a dark blue dress and makeup that he hadn’t seen on her before. “Sorry I just had the weirdest Deja-Vu”. 

“Really what were you thinking? I find Deja-Vu fascinating!” She took a sip from her glass of water and looked around finally realizing the tables placement, “Wow they really boned us here with the table, who wants to be by the kitchen?”

Troy smiled, “I tried to get us moved, but the hostess insisted that this was like the only free table. I don’t know maybe I’m not enough of a regular to get a better table”

Britta looked at the hostess suspiciously, “Maybe. Wait, sorry I totally derailed that earlier question, what were you thinking about while experiencing Deja-Vu?”

Troy looked down embarrassed, “I don’t think I can say. It’s too weird to talk about on a first date”

Britta smiled, “Troy trust me, I’ve been on a lot of bad first dates. Whatever you were thinking about will not be the weirdest thing I’ve heard from a guy before”

“Ok well I was thinking about when you said you were thinking of going back to school and what it would be like if I joined you”

Britta looked surprised, “Wow, I thought you were thinking about something weird like space adventures” Britta paused for a moment wondering where that thought came from, but decided to focus back on Troy, “Yeah that is a strange thought, do you want to go back to school?”

“I hadn’t planned on it but as soon as I thought of us at school, I got a feeling that I had I seen something like that happen before”

“Like two people at school together? Because I’m pretty sure that happens all the time Troy”

Troy shook his head, “No that’s not what I’m saying, and this is harder than I thought to describe” Troy looked down at his water, “Maybe we should just drop it”

Britta reached across the table and grabbed Troy’s hand, “What if I close my eyes and you tell me what you saw. Maybe that’ll give me a better idea of what you were thinking” 

Troy smiled and looked down at their hands together, “Ok sure, let’s give it a shot” He looked at Britta and she closed her eyes, “So it started with a feeling that we were at school together. But when I focused more on that feeling, I just saw one moment, and I have no idea what it has to do with anything” 

“Troy just start talking about and don’t stop until you’ve gotten this out of your system” 

Troy nodded and decided to close his eyes as well, “I saw a dark room with a stage. There are these bright lights on someone who is dressed in some weird costume. This person is doing a dance with others but then gets stuck. Like they are stuck in the same motion. The room gets anxious as the dancer continues to hop in place until a second dancer jumps on stage and helps them” Troy pauses for a moment as he feels Britta’s grip tighten on his hand, “Britta are you alright?”

In a whisper Britta said, “Keep talking”

“The second dancer helps the first in the weird costume and then they dance together. They hadn’t planned on dancing together, but they just begin, and it feels right. When I look at the two dancing, I can almost feel a new warmth forming between the two of them that hadn’t been there before. It’s like a seed being planted that would grow into something,” Troy paused for a moment thinking of the right word, “Awesome”. He opened his eyes to see Britta looking right at him white as a ghost. “Britta are you alright?”

Britta could barely get the words out of her mouth, “It was a tea kettle. I was a tea kettle.”

Suddenly it all hit Troy at once like a train. The Dance Recital. Greendale. The Study Group. But why was he here, how was he a lawyer in New York? How were Annie, Abed and Jeff-

Britta watched Troy as he was slowly putting it all together. She wasn’t sure where he was going with the memory at first but as soon as he mentioned the spotlight on stage, she could see it clear as day. And feel it. The embarrassment, the despair of watching Jeff and Slater together while she was dressed as a stupid tea kettle. Once that came back to her, it was like a dam opened up with memories and she realized where she truly was. 

Troy looked shell shocked, “We’re in Jeff’s dream right now! We’re sleeping at the study table with Shirley, the Dean and -“

Troy suddenly froze and looked straight through Britta to the entrance of the restaurant.   
“Who are those people?”

Britta felt a chill go down her spine as she turned and saw the two strangers from earlier, a man and woman, in dark sunglasses and suits staring at them from the hostess station. The woman began to slightly move her arm revealing a gun she was holding behind her back. Britta began to shake and tried to speak but no words would come out. She suddenly felt Troy grab her hard on the wrist spinning her back to him. She could see the fear in his face as it was dawning on him who the strangers were and why they were there. 

“We need to go now” Troy said in a whisper.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – 8:40am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream: 7:30pm Day 1

The Gala had filled up considerably since Abed, Jeff and Annie and gotten there. There were a lot of initial handshakes and hugs to begin with and then Jeff excused himself to go find the bar. The Gala was on the first floor of this Museum across the street and had a wide-open floor plan with tables placed here and there for people to sit for dinner and listen to the selected speakers. There was an escalator on the far side of the floor, furthest from the door, that led up to additional seating and the bar. Abed watched as Jeff rode the escalator up and then turned back to survey the people on the floor. He had met a few of them but the rest were strangers, dressed up in their finest entire and chatting it up as if it were some type of high school reunion. Abed didn’t understand how people could just chat with strangers so he decided to stay off to the side on his own. How could people talk to complete strangers as if they were the best of friends? Abed thought about who he could comfortably talk to in a way similar to that and drew a blank after Jeff and Annie. In the back of his mind he felt like he was missing a few people on the list, including someone major, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it. He thought back to his childhood and then school but couldn’t see anyone that would make the list. He then thought of his time at college at Yale and got a different feeling. It was feeling that was hard to pin down but made him question his time at Yale. It made him question the people he met there and the classes he took. Why didn’t those memories fit? Why could he picture himself somewhere else entirely? Somewhere that was surrounded by warmth and familiarity that he just couldn’t name. Somewhere that definitely wasn’t in Connecticut. But where was it?

“Hey Abed are you doing alright?” Annie had finished up a conversation with a former client and decided to check up on Abed who was alone and appeared to be in deep thought.

Abed snapped out of his thought and looked back to Annie, “Sorry I was trying to find the answer to a problem I don’t understand”

Annie looked at him quizzically, “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s just, I keep having these feeling that my past isn’t may actual past. Like there’s something else there but was erased and rewritten”

“Why do you think it was rewritten?” Annie asked.

“That’s what’s giving me trouble. I don’t know.”

Suddenly a former client named Neil Smith and his wife Vicki caught Abed’s eye and walked up to shake hands. “Man, it is so great to see you again Abed! I still can’t believe you were able to save me with the motor case, I thought I was cooked on that one”

Abed smiled, “It’s no issue Neil, I always believed in us winning that one”

Neil turned to his wife, “Abed kept comparing it to Luke Skywalker blowing up the death star and I just kept thinking he was crazy. But he did the impossible and then I saw the truth in his analogy!” 

Abed laughed, “Well I’m no Luke Skywalker so maybe you’re right about that one!”

Neil chuckled, “Yeah I guess since Jeff started the firm, he would be Luke, so guess you would be Han Solo.” He then turned to Annie, “And I guess you would be Leia!” Neil then turned back to Vicki and walked away with his wife. 

Annie smiled at the thought and then was suddenly hit with the strangest feeling that she had heard that before. She had never dressed up as Leia for Halloween so where had she played that character? She turned to Abed to and saw him looking glass eyed and staring straight ahead. 

“Abed are you alright?” Abed remained silent and Annie thought again about the statement. Why did that phrase so sound similar. Abed had never played Han Solo before had he? He didn’t go as Han for Halloween so where had she seen It before? She was about to go look for Jeff when Abed grabbed her by the arm. 

Abed had a different look in his eye and looked right at her, “Annie we have been Han and Leia before do you remember?”

“I, uh, I’m not sure” Annie felt like she knew what he was talking but just couldn’t latch on and this frustrated her greatly. 

Abed kept his eyes on her without blinking, “Think about the paintball game. Think about us in that hallway when the paint started raining down overhead”

Something in the back of Annie’s mind began clawing at her and when she closed her eyes, she could see Abed and herself together. Orange paint was raining down overhead and they were surrounded by men in white outfits. At first it seemed like a dream that was far away but then it came closer and closer to her and she saw it for what it really was. A memory. 

“Greendale” Annie whispered. Abed slowly nodded. “This isn’t who we are. This isn’t where we are.” Annie’s eyes slowly widened as it all came back to her like a tidal wave, “Oh god, we’re in Jeff’s dream right now!”

Abed nodded again, “We need to find him now and then find the others” He kept hold of her arm and they made their way to the escalator in the far corner and found Jeff chatting with Ian Duncan who was an apparent friend from Jeff’s earlier years. 

Annie grabbed Jeff’s arm and pulled him out of the conversation, “Sorry Ian but we’re going to have to steal Jeff for a second!” Annie and Abed dragged a reluctant Jeff to a side hallway behind the bar that was much quieter. 

“What the hell guys, what is going on?” Jeff asked irritably. 

Abed turned to Jeff and looked him in the eyes, “Jeff this isn’t who we really are right now. We’re not in New York and we don’t work for some Law Firm. Where are we?”

Jeff shook his head, “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he looked at Annie, “What the hell happened to him?” 

“Jeff he’s not crazy, he’s right. This isn’t us! Think about us together. Think about us together with Troy, Britta, Pierce and Shirley! Think about where we truly are right now!”

Jeff tilted his head, “Britta? Why would be with Britta, Troy-” 

Suddenly Jeff paused and he leaned against the wall behind him and took a long sip from his drink. He rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath looking as shook up as Abed and Annie had ever seen him. He then looked back at them, “We’re in my dream right now.”

Abed and Annie slowly nodded as Jeff continued, “We’re in the study room right now hooked up to that machine. None of this is actually real” He sighed again and took another drink. 

Abed spoke quietly, “Jeff we have to find the others. I think Pierce might still be across the street so that’s maybe the best place to start.”

Jeff and Annie nodded, and they began to walk back to escalator before Annie grabbed both of them and pulled them back.

“Guys who are those people by the entrance?”

Abed and Jeff looked and saw two men wearing dark suits and sunglasses standing by the door and appeared to be looking right at them. 

Abed swallowed and backed away, “That’s, that’s the dream police Larry was talking about. We need to find another way out of here.”

Jeff turned to him, “How can you tell?”

“Those guys stick out like a sore thumb and sunglasses indoors is a classic bad guy move” 

Jeff nodded in agreement and then looked toward the hallway they were earlier, “Well I think I saw a fire exit when we were in that hallway earlier so let’s try that I guess” The group turned and sped walked back to the hallway where they did find a fire exit sign. It led them down a staircase into a room that looked like a loading dock for supplies. There was a large door that led them out to the side of the building and then chose to cross the street first to put some distance between them and the officers. After crossing, they circled back to N.E.W Law Firm and were relieved to see that the front door was still open. 

“Pierce!” Annie yelled after she saw that he wasn’t sitting at his desk.

“Maybe he left to go home?” Abed asked.

“No, he would’ve locked up then. He’s still in this building somewhere.” Jeff said before leading the group to the elevator. However, before he pressed the button, he turned back one last time to see a pair of feet laying behind the desk. Jeff froze instantly and when Annie and Abed turned to see what they were looking at Annie let out a shriek. Jeff walked over first and after seeing what was behind the desk could only whisper, “Jesus Christ”. Abed followed behind him and let out a gasp. 

They found Pierce lying dead from a gunshot wound holding some sort of card in his hand. When Annie walked over, she began to sob and drop to her knees. Abed fought back the urge for tears to form and turned to Annie. “He’s not dead Annie, he’s just awake. We have to remember that because I doubt, he’s the last one that’s going to prematurely wake up here”. 

Jeff walked over to Pierce and grabbed the card he was holding and was read it silently to himself. After reading it he began to see the whole picture of his role for Pierce, he turned and could barely contain the tears as he mumbled that he needed a second. Abed and Annie watched Jeff leave the building and double over on the sidewalk outside. Abed picked up the card and showed it to Annie. 

Happy 70th Birthday Pierce! I hope you have fantastic day with your friends in the big city!   
Love, Willy.

“It was his birthday and we didn’t even know” Abed said softly, “Who is Willy and why did this freak Jeff out so much?”

Annie thought for a second, “I don’t know. I think Jeff mentioned he had a brother named Willy, but why would he send a card for Pierce?”

Abed thought for a moment and then it all clicked in his mind, “Because in this world Pierce’s character wasn’t like any of ours. His role wasn’t himself; he was playing someone else entirely”

“Who was he playing?”

“He was playing Jeff. Or at least Jeff’s worst fears of his future. A man that works too much with no true friend or family. A man people know but never really know. A man who talks about his big awesome life with his friends to his family or brother, but in reality, live a quiet and sad life on his own”. 

Annie blinked back tears as she looked back to the street at Jeff who was still staring aimlessly at the road in front of him. “Is that what he really thinks?”

Abed looked at her, “It must be. We’re in his dream after all.” 

Before Annie could speak again Jeff burst back into the room, “Guys we’ve got company!” They looked at the front entrance and saw the two men in black suits on the sidewalk outside. The three of them bolted for the elevator and could see both men taking out guns and begin to aim.  
Once in the elevator Jeff jammed the close door button, “C’mon, C’MON!” He yelled as the men began firing at them. Abed and Annie ducked to the corner as the door slowly closed sealing them inside safely.

Annie was still shaking as they began to move up to level 3 which was what Jeff selected. “I hope Britta and Troy are together somewhere”

Jeff thought for a moment, “I think they worked together in this world, so it’s possible”

Abed slowly picked himself up, “They might be together, but something tells me they are no safer.” The elevator clicked into place and began to open slowly on the third floor. The group jumped out with no plan on how they were getting off this floor alive and then no idea how they were getting out of the building alive.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – 8:41am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream 8:00pm Day 1

Troy and Britta slowly backed away from the table and assessed their options. The only doors in the restaurant were the entrance and the door leading to the kitchen. As the dream police slowly walked in their direction Britta decided to lead the way and the two ran into the kitchen. There were probably five other people in the kitchen who immediately turned to look at them in confusion. The room was pretty big for a kitchen and only had one other door near the back which Troy and Britta ran to. Troy grabbed the handle and pushed hard but one of the kitchen workers turned to them, “That door is locked man and you have leave now!” He turned and gestured to the door that they came through and made a huh? sound as he saw two figures in suits blocking the doorway. Troy and Britta moved further away from the door and watched the two figures slowly take out their guns and aim down at the two of them. 

“Run to the back” Troy whispered, and they bolted behind a large table as gunshots rang in the kitchen. All of the kitchen workers sprinted from the room which just left the police who took turns firing rounds at the table. Troy and Britta were both on their knees behind the table watching as the police slowly walked to them. The table was fairly long so the officers both took one side as they advanced, waiting for a clean shot at their targets. 

“What do we do? They’re going to kill us!” Britta shrieked turning to Troy who she could see sweating profusely. 

He looked back at her, “Follow my lead, I think our only chance is fighting through them”

Britta looked wide eyed at him, “Fighting! I can fight these people!”

“Britta, you have to remember that none of this is real alright. Larry said he had seen teachers fight these guys off before so I believe we can too” Troy put his hand on her shoulder and starred at her intently, “Britta I’ve always thought you’re a badass. This is the perfect place to show it” 

Before Britta could say anything in return, Troy grabbed a small pot that was sitting on the table and threw it hard at the male officer who was on the right side. This stunned the man who doubled over in pain. Troy then got up and charged the man tackling him to the ground and knocking the gun away. The female officer turned in surprise and tried to get a clean shot at Troy but hesitated shooting seeing the two wrestling on the ground. She didn’t notice that Britta had also gotten up and charged her knocking both of them to the ground. The second gun slid under a side table and Britta began wailing on the body with her balled up fists. Troy was struggling on the other side of the table and had been flipped on his back after the policeman hit him hard with a right hook to his jaw. With Troy dazed on the ground, the officer tried to reach for his gun which was just out of arms reach under an oven. While he reached, Troy was able to grab the same pot he had initially thrown and hit the man hard across the head crumpling him to the ground. Britta saw this and smiled which gave the policewoman enough time to find a mug and smash it to the side of her head. Britta was now the one on the bottom of the wresting match and tried to cover he face the best she could as the policewoman punched her again and again. Just as Britta began to feel woozy from the knocks the policewoman was suddenly yanked off of her by Troy who dropped her to the ground after two hard rights to the head. 

The two were frozen with exhaustion for a moment with Britta still on the ground and Troy standing in front of her with his hands on his knee. Troy began to smile at her when the male policeman, who had awoken, ran into him hard knocking him into a large refrigerator. Troy was pinned to the fridge with both his hand held down as the man hit him again and again with punches. 

“Troy!” Britta shrieked and saw Troy point behind her to the gun that was still under the table. After about five strikes the man let go of Troy who limply fell to the ground. The man turned to Britta and was met by a BANG and a gunshot to his chest. He looked up and saw Britta pointing the gun slowly stumbled to the ground in agony. 

Britta took a breath to compose herself and come to terms with what she had just done. Yes, I shot a man, but he wasn’t real and he was going to kill Troy. Britta looked up and saw Troy lying still on the ground and ran over to him. “Troy!” she dropped to her knees and turned over Troy to see a bloodied face and serious bruising beginning to form. She placed her head to his chest and still heard his beating heart and breathed a sigh of relief. Troy slowly opened his eyes and looked up to Britta before glancing behind her with a terrified look. He couldn’t open his mouth due to the swelling, so he pointed frantically, and Britta turned to see the female policewoman running at her with a knife in her hand. Britta didn’t have time to aim and quickly fired two shots at the woman and luckily hit her in the shoulder and chest. The woman fell to her knees and was only able to look at two “dream parasites” before Britta shot her in the head. 

It was finally silent in the kitchen and Britta took a long breath and looked again to Troy, “Oh god Troy, we’ve got to get you out of here” Troy nodded in agreement as he tried to pull himself up but quickly lost balance and fell again to the floor. “Troy let me help you,” Britta grabbed both of his hands and pulled him to his feet. Troy quickly grabbed the table to steady himself and Britta looked to the kitchen for water. She grabbed a cup and filled it with the sink faucet and handed it to Troy and directed him to drink. Troy slowly sipped and then sat down on the table to rest for a second. Troy gurgled the water in his mouth and then spit the water in a nearby sink which was a dark shade of red from the blood that had been in his mouth. Troy then refilled the water and sat back down, drinking it slowly this time. 

“You saved me” Troy said softly as his jaw still hurt from the beating he had just taken.

“We’d both be dead if you didn’t point out when that crazy bitch charged me with a knife, so I think we’ll just call it even” Britta said with a warm smile. 

“Nice shot by the way. I had no idea you knew how to use a gun” 

Britta shook her head, “I don’t, but these aren’t regular guns” She gave Troy the gun and he inspected it thoughtfully noting it had a stunning resemblance to the paintball guns they had used in the past. 

Britta walked over and grabbed the policeman’s gun which was still under the oven, “I’m guessing Jeff has never used a regular gun before so his subconscious just substituted them with something he did know”. 

Troy nodded slowly and finished his water. He still felt groggy but knew that they had to start moving. “We have to get out of here, more could be on their way right now.” Troy slid off the table slowly and steadied himself before turning to the exit. 

“Troy, how about we just take a second and come up with a plan. You can barely walk so let’s figure out our next move is first.”

Troy thought for a moment, “We can’t go back to N.E.W. and my apartment is like a twenty-minute subway ride away.”

“How about we go back to my place? Jeff actually gave me a pretty sweet pad in his world and it’s like a five-minute cab ride from here”

Troy turned and smiled at Britta, “That sounds like a good plan” He began to take small steps with Britta looking at him worryingly.

“Here let me help you” Britta ran up to his side and slid under his arm to support him as they gently made their way out of the kitchen. The rest of the restaurant had also emptied after the gunshots, so it was eerily quiet as they made their way to the sidewalk to hail a cab. The cool night air felt nice on both of their bruised faces and Britta began raising her hand for a cab. 

Troy turned to her gingerly removed her arm to stand on his own, “Do you think the others are alright? Maybe we should call them” 

Britta nodded as a cab pulled up, “We’ll try to call them once we get back to my place. I think I overhead Annie, Abed and Jeff talking about some Gala tonight so that’s probably were they are.” Britta jumped into the cab first and then helped Troy who pretty much collapsed into his seat. Britta reached over to shut the door and gave the cabbie direction and that time was of the essence. Troy rested his head against the cold window and looked over to Britta who was still holding the policeman’s gun and inspecting it carefully. 

Troy reached over and placed his hand gently are on her arm, “Maybe you should put that away Britta, probably not a great look holding that in public”

Britta smiled at him, “Right, that would be the smart move” and placed the gun in her purse which was already holding the first gun she had used. The cab pulled over to Britta’s building and Troy slowly pulled himself out of the car as Britta quickly paid. Her apartment was on the third floor and was substantially nicer than his. He spotted a couch in the living room which he immediately sat down in. Britta quickly walked to her bathroom to clean some of the cuts on her face and then went to her bedroom to change out of the dress she was wearing. She remembered how nervous she was when she had initially left for the date and chuckled to herself looking back on the night. Certainly not the dullest first date I’ve been on! Britta tried to call both Annie and Jeff but neither picked up and she did her best to suppress a rising sense of panic. She quickly went to lock the door and then went back to her small bedroom to finish changing. After Britta got into some sweatpants and a T-shirt she turned back and went to go find Troy who had been quiet since they got to the room. 

“Troy do you want to wash up? I’ve got some spare men’s sweats here if you want to change out of those clothes” There was no immediate response. She walked into her living room and found Troy passed out on the couch breathing quietly. Britta decided to clean him up a bit and grabbed a wet washcloth to try to clear up his face. She gasped seeing some of the cuts he had up close and how swollen his jaw was. Jesus, Troy that guy really did a number on you. Britta did the best she could with his face and then sat next to him on the couch pulling up a blanket for the two of them. She should have felt terrified given the situation but being next to Troy gave her a sense of calm as she wrapped her arm around his side and closed her eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – 8:43am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream 10:30pm Day 1

There was a loud knock on the door that both jolted Troy and Britta from their respective slumber and they quickly looked at each other in horror. Britta had left her purse on the coffee table next to her and quickly grabbed it and pulled out a gun and handed it to Troy and then pulled out the second one for herself. Troy slowly got up to check on the door but Britta grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the couch. 

“We never heard the dream police talk right?”

“Yeah” Troy replied quietly with his jaw still in serious pain. 

“Ok, I’ll call out and if we don’t hear anything back, we just open fire on the door ok?” Britta said glancing back and forth from the door to Troy. He nodded and then aimed down at the door. Britta took a quick breath and then turned back to the door, “Who is it?”

There was a long pause. Both Troy and Britta began to slowly pull down on their triggers when they heard a response. 

“Britta open this door its Jeff, Abed and Annie!” Jeff yelled. 

Both Britta and Troy breathed a sigh and relief and smiled at each other. 

“They must’ve gotten your message” Troy said. 

Britta got up and walked over to the door, “Yeah I guess they did thank god!” She then opened it slowly revealing Jeff, Annie and Abed standing on the other side. 

“Thank god you’re okay!” Annie said and embraced Britta. After the embrace Annie looked back at Britta, “Are those cuts on you head?” 

Britta nodded as she embraced Jeff and Abed, “Yeah it’s a long story, come in guys”

Abed entered first and saw Troy leaning on the wall and quickly noticed the damage to his face that had been done. He ran over and opted for the hug instead of their handshake. 

“What happened to you?”

Troy tried his best to smile with his busted jaw, “We got into a bit of a situation. How about you guys, did you have any issues?”

Abed nodded, “Yeah they found us at the Gala and the we got trapped at the office building looking for Pierce…” Abed’s voice trailed back as he thought back to image of his friend lying dead on the floor.

“Did you find Pierce?” Troy asked noticing a change in his friend’s body language. 

Abed looked down at the floor avoiding Troy’s gaze, “They uh, they got him Troy. He’s awake now”. Abed maintained his gaze on the floor but could hear the sad sigh his friend let out. 

By this point Annie, Jeff had made their way to the other two and noticed Troy’s face for the first time, “Jesus Troy what happened?” Jeff asked surveying the swelling. 

Britta walked over and gestured for the group to sit down in the living room and guided Troy to a nearby chair to sit in. “We can both give out stories but first do you guys want anything to drink? I’ve got water, wine, beer and some whiskey”

Jeff spoke first, “How about you just bring the bottle of whiskey over and we’ll all have that” The rest of the group had no grievance with whiskey, so Britta brought over the bottle which Jeff gabbed first and took a swig from. 

“Alright how about you tell us what happened to you guys first since I can tell its more interesting than our story” Annie said and grabbed the bottle from Jeff to take a swig. 

Troy nodded and Britta began to tell the story starting with them figuring out that they were in a dream at the restaurant and the Dream Police crashing the party. She told them about Troy coming up with a plan and then leading the charge against the police and both of their fights with their respective officer. She then went on to talk about how Troy stunned his man then was able to knock out the woman Britta was fighting before getting knocked out by the original policeman he was fighting. Britta then admitted that she shot both of the officers and then was able to get Troy out of the restaurant and back to the apartment. Throughout the story the group would constantly glance over to Troy who remained quiet and just kind of starred off into the distance. 

“What were you guys doing in the restaurant to begin with?” Abed asked, “Was it like an employee party or something?” This question caused Britta to pause for a moment deciding if she wanted to mention the true purpose of the night. 

“It was a date” Troy said quietly still looking off into the distance, “It was supposed to be a date”. Annie, Abed and Jeff all looked stunned and then turned back to Britta. 

“Are you guys dating here?” Annie asked her, trying to remember if she ever saw the two of them in the office together. 

Britta grabbed the bottle and took a long swig before answering, “No it was going to be our first date.” She paused and looked at the group, “In this world Troy was probably my best friend at the company and he asked me earlier in the day before the shit hit the fan” She looked back at Troy and placed her hand on his shoulder and he glanced back at her smiled slightly. 

“Huh well I’m not sure what that means about what I think of you guys in the real world, but this is certainly an interesting development” Jeff said in deep thought. 

“I don’t think it means anything about what you think” Abed said who grabbed the bottle to take a sip before passing it to Troy, “You built the role and gave us the roles, but I don’t think you had any effect on our relationships with each other”.

Annie nodded, “Yeah I think we’re all like 99% the real us with a little bit of Jeff”

Jeff surveyed the group, “What way do you seem some of me in yourself?”

Abed gestured to the whisky bottle that was now in Annie’s hand and about half empty, “I don’t think we would be drinking this much if this were real life”

Jeff paused to consider that point, Abed and Annie did drink much more in the world than they do in real life, “Huh, I guess I never noticed until know”. The rest of the group went quiet for a while and continued to pass around the bottle.

The bottle was nearly empty when Annie finally decided to ask the question everyone was thinking, “So, what do we do now?” 

The group looked at each other and wearily considered the predicament they were in. On one hand, if they were killed, they would wake up and be out of this dream, which was rapidly turning into a nightmare. On the other hand, they would be dying which wasn’t exactly on the top of anyone’s to-do list. 

“I think we should all get some rest” Britta said slurring slightly before continuing, “I’ve got two couches and my bed.” 

Abed paused for a moment and then nodded, “Ok, how about we take turns keeping a watch out for the Dream Police. Two people can sleep on each couch and the other two can sleep in Britta’s bed. The additional person will keep watch for a certain amount of time before rotating with a different group member. That way we can all get some sleep and know that we won’t be ambushed in here”

The group considered the plan and Troy decided to speak up for the first time in a while with his jaw finally starting to feel better, “Britta are there any other ways to enter the apartment beside the door?” 

Britta paused for a moment, “Yeah I think there is a fire escape outside my bedroom window. I’ve never used it before so I’m not sure what kind of condition it is in”

“Ok they won’t be able to get up that way so it looks like the door is the only thing that will need to be guarded” Jeff paused for a moment and then continued, “Since this is my dream I guess I’ll take the first shift.” The rest of the group slowly nodded. 

“I’ll take the second shift” Abed said.

“I’ll take the third then” Troy said.

“I’ll take the fourth” Britta followed up. 

The rest of the group turned to Annie who was slumped over a pillow on one side of the couch already sleeping. 

“I guess Annie will take the last shift then” Jeff said quietly before getting up and steadying himself against a nearby table. 

“Are you sure you’re good to keep watch?” Troy asked noticing Jeff weary manner. 

Jeff waived him off, “I’m fine Troy get some sleep it looks you might need it more than the rest of us.” Troy nodded and then surveyed the room. Annie was already sleeping on one of the couches which meant Abed, Britta and himself would have to decide between the remaining couch and the bedroom. Before Troy could ask, Britta grabbed his arm and slowly walked him into her bedroom leaving Abed and Jeff in the living room with curious looks. 

“Was this a thing in the real world that I wasn’t picking up on?” Jeff asked Abed.

“I know they had a moment during that acting class, but this is all new to me too” Abed said still looking toward the bedroom with a mixture of feelings. Abed then looked at the clock to see it was just passed 11:30 and then turned back to Jeff, “Wake me up at 1:30, we’ll all take two hours shifts” Jeff nodded and Abed then got up walked to the second couch while Jeff picked up Annie’s leg and repositioned them on the couch.

Jeff pulled a chair close to the door and took out his phone. However, after he began looking through his messages, he realized the pointlessness of answering texts in his dream and put away his phone. He looked toward the living room and saw Abed already asleep on the second couch with Annie still passed out on the first couch. He chuckled to himself and decided to pick a book off of Britta’s shelf and began reading quietly to himself.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 – 8:48am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream 8:00am Day 2

Up until 8:00am the night had been quiet. Jeff woke Abed up who then woke Troy up who then woke Britta up. Annie was woken up at 7:30 and was sitting quietly by the door drinking a cup of coffee when she heard the elevator open. Although this noise freaked her out, she decided to pause on waking people up. She looked back at the living room and saw Jeff and Abed on the couches with Troy and Britta back in the bedroom. Before she could begin to think about that relationship, she heard a gun cocking and realized the group was in deep trouble. Annie quickly picked up the chair and shoved it under the doorknob before running over the Jeff and shoving him awake. 

“What is it?” he asked wearily before recognizing the look in her eye and immediately grabbing the gun that was on the nearby coffee table. Annie then quickly woke up Abed and the three ran into the bedroom to wake up Britta and Troy. Jeff grabbed Troy’s shoulder and shook it franticly while Annie whispered to Britta in a panicked tone. They both woke up at the same time and after looking at each other quickly jumped out of bed and grabbed the two guns and Britta purse. 

“How many are out there” Troy asked while checking the number of bullets he had. 

“I don’t know” Annie said quietly, “I head the gun reload sound and then ran to wake everyone up”

A thud came from the front door prompting Troy and Britta to begin franticly working on opening the window to the fire escape. Abed turned to Jeff, “We’ve got to buy sometime for the others” He gestured Jeff to follow and they both ran into the living room and flipped one of the couches to serve as some sort of protection. Abed began aiming down the sight of his pistol toward the door and placed his finger on the trigger. On the third thud there was a loud cracking sound and the front door split open from the middle. Jeff began firing blindly at the door and saw two officers fall as the others ducked for cover. There was a brief moment of silence before a series of gunshots came from the hallways as the police fired at the couch that Abed and Jeff hid behind. Jeff could hear Annie shriek as she looked on in horror as Abed leapt back up and returned fire at the door hitting another two men who were entering the apartment. 

“Is that all of them?” Jeff asked Abed as it got suddenly quiet again. 

After a few moments Troy called out from the other room, “Guys this window is open let’s go now!”

Jeff and Abed got up and began walking to the door when suddenly one shot was fired from the doorway. Jeff looked in horror as Abed collapsed to the ground with a bullet wound to the chest. 

“ABED!” Jeff cried as a single remaining officer walked into the room. Jeff aimed down at the man and pulled the trigger but was horrified to hear the click of an empty clip. Before he could say anything, the policeman had whipped him in the head with his gun and then grabbed Annie from the bedroom and through her down to the ground. Jeff watched in horror as the man aimed down his gun at Annie but then heard a whisper and turned to see Abed slide him his gun while clutching his chest on the ground. Jeff quickly grabbed the gun and shot the man in the head just before he pulled his trigger aimed at Annie. The man fell the floor and Annie began to sob as she finally saw laying Abed on the ground behind Jeff. Jeff turned to Abed and saw that he was already gone with an empty gaze in his direction while still on the ground. 

After hearing the noise, Troy and Britta both reentered the apartment from the fire escape they had begun climbing down. Britta ran to Annie and Troy entered the living room, “What the hell happened? Guys we were waiting-“ Troy froze as he saw Abed lying still on the ground and ran over to him immediately. Troy was silent as he dropped to his knees in front of Abed as Jeff slowly pulled himself and walked over to him. He placed his hand on Troy’s shoulder as he began to quietly sob. 

“He saved Annie’s life” Jeff said quietly. Troy remained quiet and slowly reached his hand to Abed face to close his eyes. 

Britta tried consoling Annie who continued weep uncontrollably and could only make out one word, “Abed”. Britta turned to the living room and her jaw dropped as she took in the scene. She could feel tears begin to blur her eyes as she saw Jeff trying to pull Troy up from the ground and away from his friend, she told Annie to take a deep breath and then walked over to Jeff. She placed her hand on his shoulder and gestured back to Annie and he knew to go to her before she could say anything. Britta turned away from them and back to Troy who still sat silent over his friend. 

“He’s not gone Troy” she said softly, “We’ll see him in no time, you have to remember that. You have to remember that no matter what happens to any of us here we’ll all see each other when we wake up.”

Troy nodded slowly, “It just feels so real right now”. 

Britta placed her hand on his shoulder, “I know. But I bet Abed would want us to keep going and we are sitting ducks right now.”

Before Troy could answer, another dream officer burst into the room and fired san entire clip of shots across the room. Troy and Britta dove behind a nearby couch and yelled for Jeff to do the same. Britta handed Troy one of the guns while she tried to aim her own gun over the couch and fired twice to no avail. Troy then jumped out of cover and fired once hitting the office in the chest. The two looked to each other and smiled before turning to see Jeff sobbing in the bedroom. Both Troy and Britta ran in to see Jeff looking down at Annie who had been hit by one of the officers shot and had already passed. Jeff could barely speak but Troy and Britta pulled him out on to the fire escape and they all began to the slow and quiet climb to the street. 

Britta ran them to her car which was parked in a garage about a block away and she began the desperate drive to get out of the city once and for all.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 – 8:50am in Study Room  
Jeff’s Dream 9:00am Day 2

“They’re going to be alright, right?” Jeff asked quietly.

“Shirley and the Dean are watching over us remember? I bet Annie, Abed and Pierce are having coffee and trying to draw dumb stuff on our faces right now” Troy said turning to Jeff and trying to comfort him.

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen guys I swear, I wish we were anywhere but here right now”

Britta turned around and looked at Jeff, “Jeff you built this world, but you had no control over what would happen. We don’t blame you for any of this. My time wasn’t actually all that bad before last night” Britta turned back to Troy and they reached and held hands in silence. 

“Ok was this a thing before the dream because I am surprised by how deep this relationship is here” Jeff said.

“I think I like Britta in the real world, but I just got to spend so much time here with her and I guess that’s why things have progressed the way they have” Troy said and Britta nodded slowly. 

“I guess I had these feeling for Troy, but I always just pushed them away for the most part” Britta said quietly, “I just thought it was a dumb crush on a friend or something like that” 

Jeff shook his head, “It’s a shame none of us will remember any of this because I would love to tease you two lovebirds till the end of time” 

“Shut up,” Britta said with a smile before pausing to consider the truth to his statement. There was almost no chance she would remember her time with Troy when she woke up and there was no way to tell herself about Troy sharing these feelings for her. Shed decided to worry about these thought later and looked back to the road and noticed that the scenery and changed completely. They were out of the city and now on some mountainous backroads with just a simple divider separating them from a larger ravine. 

“Jeff, where are we?” Troy asked.

“I used to go skiing here with my mom” Jeff said pausing to look out the window, “We’re back in Colorado.” 

“Jeff why were we associates for you?” Troy asked, “You made Abed and Annie partners, but made us glorified assistants”

Jeff looked out the window for a while before answering, “I don’t know exactly why, but you are kind of the two dummies of the group. I don’t think it makes you any worse people, if anything you guys are the heart of our group, but I guess my subconscious just doesn’t see you on the same intellectual level as Abed, Annie and myself.”

“What was with Pierce” Britta asked looking at Jeff.

“That was something else entirely,” Jeff said quietly, “I’m always scared of just being completely alone and Pierce was living that fear in this dream. He had us but none of us were his friends. It was his birthday yesterday and nobody said anything even though we’ve all known him for years here. In here he was surrounded by people who liked him, but no one who loved him.”

“Is that what you’re worried about Jeff, that we don’t love you?” Troy pressed.

“Yeah, I guess. My fear is that I don’t take advantage of this group and miss the opportunity of turning it into the family I never had. That I joke and tease people enough to drive them away and then I’m left with absolutely no one but myself. And most of the time I hate myself” Troy and Britta couldn’t see but Jeff was quietly crying as he looked out the window. 

“Jeff, we all love you man,” Troy said turning back to face him, “Please always remember that.”

Britta nodded and noticed a sharp turn upcoming and began to press the brake and knew immediately something was wrong. 

“Looks like we’ve got a sharp right up there do you see it” Troy said turning to Britta who had tears in her eyes and was looking back at him.

“The break- the break and the wheel won’t work” she said and before anyone else could say anything the car rammed through the barrier and off into the ravine exploding on impact.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – 8:52am in Study Room

“And that looks like the rest of them” Larry said as Jeff slowly opened his eyes. He was lying face down on his forearm that was placed on the table. He groggily lifted his head and saw Troy and Britta also beginning to stir awake. Abed and Annie were sitting on the nearby couch drinking coffee while Pierce and Shirley were in some deep discussion about her kids playing soccer. 

“Jeffrey it looks like you must have died in the dream with Troy and Britta” the Dean said who walked over to him with a cup of coffee. 

“I guess” Jeff said quietly and began to sip slowly on the coffee. 

“I’m going to give you some time to decompress after that and then we’ll start again in twenty minutes” Larry said who then got up and began to walk toward the restroom outside of the study room. 

Annie noticed that the three of them were awake and gesture Abed to follow her to the table. “Do you guys remember anything?” She asked. 

“Um,” Troy paused and appeared in deep thought, “I think I remember wearing like a fancy suit and being in some sort of city but that’s about it”

Abed nodded, “I also remember the city, I think we all worked together somewhere”

Jeff thought for a moment, “I feel like I can see myself with Annie and Abed, but I really don’t remember seeing much of Troy or Britta,” Jeff paused, “Wait I also remember seeing Pierce, he worked in the building!”

“What?” Pierce said butting into their conversation, “All I remember is doing cross word puzzles in some lobby. I was actually pretty good at them!”

“I remember being in this fancy restaurant” Britta said, “I don’t think I remember much more than that though” 

Annie looked to Britta, “I’m going to get a snack do you want to come with me?” 

Britta was about to say no when she noticed a look in Annie’s eye, “Yeah sure”. The two got up and left Jeff, Abed, Troy and Pierce arguing about what year the dream took place in. Once they left the study room Annie turned back and looked to Britta. 

“I remember something else about the dream but didn’t want to mention it in front of everyone else.”

“What was it?” Britta asked quizzically.

“You were with Troy. I don’t remember everything, but I remember getting to your apartment and Troy already being there. I think you guys were might have been together in the dream”

“Huh” Britta thought back to the dream and began to see more. She remembered the restaurant and being with Troy and she felt a warmth in her that was similar to the one she had when with Troy in the dream. 

“You should talk to him about it” Annie said quietly. 

“What if it was a fluke? I think I’ll wait and if this keeps popping up then maybe it might mean something real” Britta said looking back in the study room. She saw Troy eating his third muffin since waking up and smiled to herself.

Annie and Britta returned to the study room with Larry following behind them and everyone sat back down at the study table. The Dean and Shirley opened up a new pack of needles and began attaching them to the cords while Larry began looking at the group. 

“So, I hope you guys are rested and ready to go again. Everything went smoothly for trial 1 and now I need a new true dreamer”

The group looked at each other for a moment and then Annie raised her hand, “I’ll go”

“Excellent!” Larry exclaimed and passed her the red cord while everyone else got a white one. Shirley and the Dean helped with injecting the needles and then everyone turned to Larry who had his finger on the red button. 

“We’ll see you guys soon!” the Dean said, and Larry began to press down slowly on the button. Annie looked around one more time and then slowly rested her head on the table feeling her eyes begin to close and the darkness of slumber begin to surround her.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll post again once I'm done writing the next dream


End file.
